Hawaiian gallinule
| Hawaiian gallinule | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Gallinula |
| Species: | G. galeata |
| Subspecies: | G. g. sandvicensis |
| Trinomial name | |
| Gallinula galeata sandvicensis Streets, 1877 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Hawaiian gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis) is an endangered chicken-sized water bird in the rail family. It is also variously known as the Hawaiian common gallinule, Hawaiian moorhen, Hawaiian common moorhen, mudhen, locally in Hawaiian as the `alae `ula (“burnt forehead” - for its prominent red frontal shield), and sometimes misleadingly as the Hawaiian red coot. It is a subspecies of the common gallinule that is endemic to the tropical Hawaiian Islands of the north-central Pacific Ocean.
It is dependent on freshwater wetland habitats with dense emergent vegetation for nesting. Once found on most of the main islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, it has undergone a major population and range decline and is now a resident breeder only on Kaua'i and O'ahu. Causes of the decline were mainly loss of habitat, hunting and predation by introduced animals, with numbers subsequently stabilised at a low level through legal protection and conservation management. Despite being hunted for food, it was mythologised as the keeper of fire in Hawaiian religion.
It is likely that the Hawaiian gallinule is descended from stray migrant common gallinules from North America. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the common moorhen, and subsequently as a subspecies of the common gallinule when that species was split from the common moorhen in 2011. It is distinguished from other subspecies by a larger frontal shield and a red blush on the front and sides of the tibiotarsus.
The Hawaiian gallinule has dark grey-brown upperparts, black head and neck, dark slate-blue underparts, with mostly white undertail coverts and white flank stripes. It has a large red frontal shield over a red, yellow-tipped, bill. The long, sturdy legs and long-toed feet are mainly yellowish-green. Sexes are similar. The body length of the gallinule is about 33 cm. The average body mass of adult birds is 350 g. Immature birds are olive- to greyish-brown, with duller pale yellow to brown bills.
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Wikipedia